Chase Twichell

New New books on writing poetry. Highlights of Poetry. Index of poetry. How to Write Poetry. New Books read.

How to write specific forms:
Haibun. Haiku. Hay(na)ku. Rengay. Tanka.
Concrete. Ghazal. Lai. Pantoum. Prose poem. Rondeau. Rubáiyát.
Sestina. Skaldic verse. Sonnet. Terza rima. Triolet. Tritina. Villanelle.

Poets: Adam Zagajewski. Aleda Shirley. Billy Collins. Billy Collins exercise.
Snorri's Edda. Carl Dennis. Charles Atkinson. Chase Twichell. Corey Marks. Galway Kinnell. Franz Wright. Gary Young. The Gawain Poet.
Jack Gilbert. Jane Hirshfield. Jean Vengua. Jorie Graham. Karen Braucher. Kay Ryan.
Laureate Poets: Britain; USA.
Les Murray. Louise Glück. Len Anderson. Li-Young Lee. Linda Pastan. Nordic Skalds. Pulitzer Poetry Prize (U.S.A).
Richard Hugo. Robert Bly. Sara Teasdale. Snorri's Edda. Stephen Dunn. Ted Kooser. W.S. Merwin.

Books: The Practice of Poetry.
Poetry. Editing. Time line. Links and Books.

Notes from 17th January 2000 Poetry of Chase Twichell in San Jose, CA, USA

Some quotations:

I would choose poetry because it's my responsibility.

I feel responsible for telling things in the particular way I tell them.

I'll close with three poems that are part of a series sprinkled thoughout the book that explores the possibility of how the poet (like Keats, Whitman) can be intimate with the reader.

Twichell reading from The Snow Watcher:

'Girl Riding Bareback'
'Hologram'
'Horse' [She wanted us to laugh and suggested that we were taking her too seriously.]
'Decade' [Someone laughed and she said: "I'm glad to hear someone laugh; I think some of these are quite funny."]
'Hunger for Something' [which she prefaced with "I think I better read another funny one."]
'My Skeleton'
'My Taste for Trash'
'Zazen Wired and Tired'
'Today's Lapses'
'Silver and White Elegy'
'To the Reader: Polaroids'
'To the Reader: If you Asked Me'
'To the Reader: Twilight'

Poetry of Chase Twichell.

The Snow Watcher (2006)

Her fifth collection of verse.
Presented in seven untitled sections.
Sample statistics:
- 77 poems, 82 pages, average of 1.1 pages per poem.
- For pages per poem, the mode is 1 pages (72 poems); 5 poems are 2 pages.
- For lines per poem, most of the poems are in multiples of 5 lines, with 15 lines as the most common length:
  
  5 5
  
  8 1
  
  9 1
  
  10 18
  
  12 1
  
  13 1
  
  15 37
  
  17 1
  
  20 7
  
  25 3
  
  30 2
- Lines per stanza (rough count) shows a mode of 3 lines, followed by 2 lines, then 5 lines. These are the only significant stanza lengths.
- Stanzas per poem (rough count) shows a bimodal peak at 7 and 13 stanzas, and a preference for an odd number of stanzas:
  1. 7 poems have a single stanza each.
  2. 7 poems have 2 stanzas.
  3. 7
  4. 29
  5. 15
  6. 38
  7. 0
  8. 3
  9. 0
  10. 1
  11. 0
  12. 2

Editing by Chase Twichell.

The Practice of Poetry

Buy The Practice of Poetry, Edited by Robin Behen and Chase Twichell.

Time Line.

1950: Born New Haven, CT, USA.
1973: Bachelor's degree from Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA.
1976: MFA from University of Iowa.; Began working at Pennyroyal Press.
1981: Poems:Northern Spy
1984: Ended working at Pennyroyal Press.

1986: Poems:The Odds; Began co-editing the Alabama Poetry Series.
1988: Ended co-editing the Alabama Poetry Series.
1991: Poems:Perdido
1992: Editing (with Robin Behen): The Practice of Poetry, Edited by Robin Behen and Chase Twichell.
1995: Poems:The Ghost of Eden
1998: Poems: The Snow Watcher.
1999: Founded Ausable Press.
2000: Poetry reading in San Jose, CA, USA.
2005: Poems:Dog Language
Publisher Copper Canyon Press.

Links and Books.

Links and Books.

[Thanks for visiting.]